Thank you.
Simple words. Powerful words.
There may well be no more important words ever uttered to our customers than thank you. When we are able to deliver a sincere thank you to our customers we are telling them that we truly want their business. We are acknowledging their role as the most important facet of our operation and the reason that we exist. At the absolute base level, we are thanking them for our paychecks.
Science will also conclude that the thank you delivered in the customer interaction also provides a subtle, non-spoken message. In addition to the appreciation, the customer also translates the thank you message to include please come again. They were appreciated and invited back with two simple words.
One of the most frustrating interactions that is seen by many people during the course of the day involves the local convenience store. You pay for your Big Gulp, Mentos and Twinkie and who usually says thank you? If you answered anything but the convenience store clerk, isn’t there something wrong with that? Ultimately, the salary of that store clerk and the economic viability of the entire operation is dependent on your transaction and many just like it.
This brings us to the first absolute rule associated with thank you. If the customer says it first, you have failed. If you say it first and the customer echoes it back in a variety of ways, that is terrific. But above all else, the customer must hear it from your mouth first.
Speaking thank you can have moments of challenge. If a customer has been especially prickly, demanding or down right rude, saying thank you often sticks in our wind pipes somewhere. When a customer calls to complain, thank you is the farthest thing from many of our minds.
When you critically analyze these types of customer interactions, aren’t these the types of customers that need to hear appreciation the most? Are these the customers, that if not returned to happy and satisfied status, can ruin your reputation and talk horribly about your business? One other element to consider is the probability that a simple thank you can start a dissatisfied customer on the road to repair.
The second absolute associated with appreciation and thank you is to close each customer interaction with those words. Whether a typical transaction or a complaining customer, thank you should always be our closing words. If you struggle with this application, remember that it is not about you, it is about our customers and how they feel and not how comfortable you feel. Take a look at your written correspondence and email with customers. How many of those are closed with appreciation statements?
The final absolute of appreciation is a little harder to get your hands around. It is about how thank you and appreciation statements are delivered. It is about being sincere and genuine. A thank you delivered in a mechanical, scripted or sarcastic manner has no value. Appreciation that is your own words, your own genuine feelings, will be absolutely invaluable.
For reading this article, thank you.